Any Driving Instructors on here
Discussion
Thinking of becoming a driving instructor, I'm pretty much semi-retired and don't need to pay a mortgage etc so I don't need a set regular income .
I'm helping to teach my son to drive at the moment, its something I have dabbled in as when I was in the forces I would teach people to drive unfamiliar vehicles and there is a real shortage of driving instructors in my area, we pay £38 per lesson. With the local school getting outstanding Ofsteds and expanding its 6th form it looks like there might be a fair bit of work going forward.
When you google you see plenty of companies that do driving instructor courses but has anyone on here gone that route and can offer any advice?
I'm helping to teach my son to drive at the moment, its something I have dabbled in as when I was in the forces I would teach people to drive unfamiliar vehicles and there is a real shortage of driving instructors in my area, we pay £38 per lesson. With the local school getting outstanding Ofsteds and expanding its 6th form it looks like there might be a fair bit of work going forward.
When you google you see plenty of companies that do driving instructor courses but has anyone on here gone that route and can offer any advice?
I did it a few years ago, but never quite managed to make it work before landing another job out of the blue. I did find it hard work to get pupils on board - even friends of the family quietly went elsewhere (usually somewhere offering silly cheap lessons, whilst I tried to charge a competitive but honest rate).
Go independent for the training - the schemes run by red/BSM etc aren't worth the money.
Part 1 is easy with a little self study. I linked up with a local independent trainer for the part 2 and part 3 practical tests, had 5 or 6 sessions to get my own driving up to scratch for the part 2, and 16-18 sessions for the part 3, I can't quite remember. Overall cost was substantially less than paying a big school, and I wasn't tied to their franchise afterwards either.
Go independent for the training - the schemes run by red/BSM etc aren't worth the money.
Part 1 is easy with a little self study. I linked up with a local independent trainer for the part 2 and part 3 practical tests, had 5 or 6 sessions to get my own driving up to scratch for the part 2, and 16-18 sessions for the part 3, I can't quite remember. Overall cost was substantially less than paying a big school, and I wasn't tied to their franchise afterwards either.
timbob said:
I did it a few years ago, but never quite managed to make it work before landing another job out of the blue. I did find it hard work to get pupils on board - even friends of the family quietly went elsewhere (usually somewhere offering silly cheap lessons, whilst I tried to charge a competitive but honest rate).
That's disappointing to hear. This is something I wouldn't mind doing if I got sick of my day job, but obviously it only works if you can make a half decent living from it.I'd assumed that there was a ready market of people learning to drive but I guess there are also a lot of people waiting to teach them....
I did an introductory 'learn to be a driving instructor' course in 1994 which the Government paid £500 towards as a retraining grant.
I had hoped it would teach me better parallel parking skills - but no, was told I'd have to pay extra for specialist lessons.
The car I drove with trainer and other would be hopeful driving instructors was in a poor state of repair and broke down on one of the few outside road trips. Lots of classroom work on the multiple choice exam questions.
My impression was that the instructor company I was with was earning money for training as opposed to providing driving lessons.
A friend spent over 2 years trying to pass the exams, spent lots of his own money and I think he gave up in the end, as he wasn't good enough.
I hope someone can come and post that they managed to become a driving instructor very easily. My experience relates to nearly 25 years ago, when it was probably a lot harder to achieve.
I had hoped it would teach me better parallel parking skills - but no, was told I'd have to pay extra for specialist lessons.
The car I drove with trainer and other would be hopeful driving instructors was in a poor state of repair and broke down on one of the few outside road trips. Lots of classroom work on the multiple choice exam questions.
My impression was that the instructor company I was with was earning money for training as opposed to providing driving lessons.
A friend spent over 2 years trying to pass the exams, spent lots of his own money and I think he gave up in the end, as he wasn't good enough.
I hope someone can come and post that they managed to become a driving instructor very easily. My experience relates to nearly 25 years ago, when it was probably a lot harder to achieve.
Worth remembering if you're planning a long career... driverless cars may change the scene. When most people will get driverless Uber cabs everywhere, the demand for driving instructors will likely tail off.
I'd love to do a job like taxi-driver, HGV driver etc... but I just can't see it keeping me paid in 15 years.
I'd love to do a job like taxi-driver, HGV driver etc... but I just can't see it keeping me paid in 15 years.
davek_964 said:
That's disappointing to hear. This is something I wouldn't mind doing if I got sick of my day job, but obviously it only works if you can make a half decent living from it.
I'd assumed that there was a ready market of people learning to drive but I guess there are also a lot of people waiting to teach them....
With hindsight, it is a bit of a strange profession... Your colleagues are your competition, and if you're good, you get rid of your business as quickly as possible...!!I'd assumed that there was a ready market of people learning to drive but I guess there are also a lot of people waiting to teach them....
I think there's 2 parts of the driving instructor market:
Firstly, those who qualify with a franchise, struggle by for a couple of years paying the franchise fees (sometimes up to £200 a week) and charging rock bottom "introductory deal" £55 for 5 lesson prices, before quitting as they can't make it pay, even working all the hours under the sun...
Secondly, those who are well established, have a good supply of students through recommendation and charge a proper fee, £23-£25 a lesson, depending on location.
I was hoping to become one of the second type, and worked hard to give good quality lessons. People came to me having had lessons with the "dash to the bottom" brigade, and expressed their amazement that we drove about for most of the lesson... they'd previously only spend about 15-20 mins actually driving per lesson, the rest of the time taken up with unnecessary briefings and talking (which is I suppose how you reduce fuel costs if you're only charging £11 a lesson... I averaged £8 running costs per lesson).
Unfortunately it never did come good, but I was only working part time (and ticking over ok, building very slowly) before a full time job offer came out some other part time work, so I chucked in the driving instruction.
I did really enjoy it, and found it very satisfying. If you're after an enjoyable/chilled out way to make a few quid and you have other streams of income, then go for it! Stick to your guns, don't compete with the rock bottom "deal" prices and give a quality service, minimising the talk and maximising the driving time.
After fuel costs are taken out, if you're charging £25 an hour, you're looking at about £17-18 pre tax profit per hour (not including travelling time to or from lessons).
I never did understand those families happy to pay £40 an hour for someone to walk their dog, but quibbles over paying £24 an hour for driving lessons to keep their offspring safe on the roads...
It's the same as any other business venture; market research and what's you're USP.
If you don't truly know what the demand is and what your intended market will sustain price wise, then it's a gamble that may not pay off. If you look and sound like all your competitors, then you can only compete on price, which won't be sustainable. You will need some form of overt differentiation.
If however it's more of a hobby and you're not reliant on the income, then clearly the risks are much lower.
Good luck!
If you don't truly know what the demand is and what your intended market will sustain price wise, then it's a gamble that may not pay off. If you look and sound like all your competitors, then you can only compete on price, which won't be sustainable. You will need some form of overt differentiation.
If however it's more of a hobby and you're not reliant on the income, then clearly the risks are much lower.
Good luck!
rog007 said:
If however it's more of a hobby and you're not reliant on the income, then clearly the risks are much lower.
Good luck!
Yes its very much a "hobby" as said in the first post, something I can do for the next 5 years, the business side I'm less worried about but the training is clearly the minefield which was my first thoughtGood luck!
I already hold an LGV C+E, PCV + E as well as car and motorcycle, I was also trained for blue light jobs, but I have no interest in either the haulage or passenger transport industry anymore , its just too much of a grind.
I too am semi-retired and became an ADI just over a year ago. I put together a business plan to see whether it would be worth the effort of going through the training and the result did justify it providing I was going to be independent.
As for the training itself you can probably complete Pt1 and Pt2 without any external help; plenty of material on line such as youtube etc. Personally, the real challenge is Pt3 and for this I believe coaching is a must. I chose to go with a school based in SW England that appeared to be very competitive and I was teamed up with a very good coach which might just have been good luck.
After completing the initial Pt3 training I opted for the pink temporary (6 month) licence. It was at this point things get more serious. As a trainee ADI you have to be sponsored by a recognised school (franchise fee of £80+ per week) and you need to provide a car. Of course, if you don't pass your Pt3 within the 6 months all bets are off so opting for a lease car is not straightforward although there are companies offering 6 month leases on second-hand driving school cars for about £300 per month. Simplistically you have costs of £800 per month before you even start the car and that can easily equate to 30-40hrs of instruction per month.
With this in mind I opted to buy my own car and have dual controls fitted; I still had the franchise fee though which I managed to drop at the first opportunity after passing Pt3. My total start up costs including all tests, ADI registration, car, dual controls, insurance and marketing were just shy of £9k. The franchise fee added another £2.2K on top. If you have such financial resources then I'd recommend going that route; I just don't understand how anyone taking on a Bill Plant/Red/BSM franchise can ever make money unless they're doing 60hrs plus per week.
As for the training itself you can probably complete Pt1 and Pt2 without any external help; plenty of material on line such as youtube etc. Personally, the real challenge is Pt3 and for this I believe coaching is a must. I chose to go with a school based in SW England that appeared to be very competitive and I was teamed up with a very good coach which might just have been good luck.
After completing the initial Pt3 training I opted for the pink temporary (6 month) licence. It was at this point things get more serious. As a trainee ADI you have to be sponsored by a recognised school (franchise fee of £80+ per week) and you need to provide a car. Of course, if you don't pass your Pt3 within the 6 months all bets are off so opting for a lease car is not straightforward although there are companies offering 6 month leases on second-hand driving school cars for about £300 per month. Simplistically you have costs of £800 per month before you even start the car and that can easily equate to 30-40hrs of instruction per month.
With this in mind I opted to buy my own car and have dual controls fitted; I still had the franchise fee though which I managed to drop at the first opportunity after passing Pt3. My total start up costs including all tests, ADI registration, car, dual controls, insurance and marketing were just shy of £9k. The franchise fee added another £2.2K on top. If you have such financial resources then I'd recommend going that route; I just don't understand how anyone taking on a Bill Plant/Red/BSM franchise can ever make money unless they're doing 60hrs plus per week.
Edited by caiss4 on Wednesday 22 February 15:12
liner33 said:
Very useful post thanks
So would you recommend just going forward with the pt3 test before buying/leasing a car or do you think being sponsored was the way to go?
You won't be able to lease a car on an ADI lease plan until you're qualified. This isn't a problem if you pass the Pt3 without going for the pink licence but you have to have 20hrs of coaching with a recognised ORDIT instructor to be eligible to take the test. If you opt, as I did, for the temporary licence then you'll need a car and further coaching. Some schools I'm sure would be able to provide the car for the duration of the temp licence but you'd almost certainly be signed up to a franchise at this point.So would you recommend just going forward with the pt3 test before buying/leasing a car or do you think being sponsored was the way to go?
liner33 said:
Also can you give me the name of the company you used in the SW ? Cheers
I'll PM the details.caiss4 said:
liner33 said:
Very useful post thanks
So would you recommend just going forward with the pt3 test before buying/leasing a car or do you think being sponsored was the way to go?
You won't be able to lease a car on an ADI lease plan until you're qualified. This isn't a problem if you pass the Pt3 without going for the pink licence but you have to have 20hrs of coaching with a recognised ORDIT instructor to be eligible to take the test. If you opt, as I did, for the temporary licence then you'll need a car and further coaching. Some schools I'm sure would be able to provide the car for the duration of the temp licence but you'd almost certainly be signed up to a franchise at this point.So would you recommend just going forward with the pt3 test before buying/leasing a car or do you think being sponsored was the way to go?
liner33 said:
Also can you give me the name of the company you used in the SW ? Cheers
I'll PM the details.Probably not much help now but its worthwhile correcting a few points mentioned by caiss4.
Whilst you do need a sponsor to train under a PDI training licence (pink badge) they DON’T have to be ORDIT registered. ORDIT is still a voluntary scheme. All you need is an ADI to sponsor you i.e. any Approved Driving Instructor. The training companies of course give the impression that you have to use them but then they would, wouldn't they?
40 hours of training after part 2 before you can apply for a PDI badge, yes.However, only 10 hours of that needs to be ‘in car’.
Leasing a car on a PDI badge? Simple. The company I used(use) Toyota Yaris Hybrid Auto, 7 months lease-£135 per week including fleet insurance and maintenance.
The problem is, of course that you can’t solicit your own pupils (although I'm sure some do) and must get them through your sponsor. In practice, that means your options are limited but with a bit of creative thinking and a bit of leg work, not impossible.
I’m a case in point. Part 2 passed (3 minors) with 5 hours of ‘lessons’. Mainly to refresh ‘test techniques’. Mainly refreshing mirror/signal sequencing/ essentials. I’m clearly a good standard driver) otherwise I wouldn't have passed. I did spend 6 months beforehand learning to keep to speed limits in my daily driving-for me, that was actually the hardest part of the whole process.
Sponsored by an ADI I found who happened to be turning business away and they offered a pay per pupil deal and £20 to them for a driving test (they charged £100 for a test so still £80 for-me) do the in car training and the extra in car training whilst on a Pink Badge. £20 per pupil that would've been turned away if I couldn't take them. So a win/win.
Part 3 passed last week! And ill be staying with the same person for pupils.
Admittedly a bit of an unusual route but total costs including test fees (i was earning £28 p/hr and booked up over last Summer the day after my car was delivered so I'm not including ongoing costs or pay per pupil fees as they're paid for from earnings) approximately £800. Ive now £300 to pay for my ADI registration.
Im actually thinking of doing something like this myself now that I’m an ADI. If you're a reasonably good standard driver (and meet the other requirements) you shouldn't need that much training to pass part 2. Some of these ORDIT trainers are IMHO opinion, sailing very close to the wind in terms of correct information.
Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:
One suggestion I can give is on the car you buy. Get a Mini or a Fiat 500. I bet there would be students who would chose you over the competition, who run a Fiesta or Corsa. An ex colleague who became a DI bought a Mini for this reason.
Couldn’t disagree with that, although 500 is quite small (and I’m not) so even with a small driver and Instructor, you’re rubbing shoulders constantly. Mini really isn’t! Visibility on the Mini isn’t actually that good either, in the places you need it.I kept going with the Yaris. Unbelievable economy and increasingly the Independent instructors choice. Also has a ‘big car’ feel. Great visibility too. Half my pupils have ended up buying one as they Love ‘em. (Naturally, given my motor trade history, I’m referring them to my local Toyota dealer for the usual £100 ref fee!)
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